Fujian cuisine, anyone?

Pu Tien Restaurant must be one of the few restaurants in Singapore that serves true Fujian food. Was there last night with my family to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Fujian dishes have really unique taste but I can't say all of them are to our liking.

Pork ribs' quite tasty!

Fried Bee Hoon tasted average

Fresh prawns and tasty broth!

How much is that doggie in the cage?

Every morning outside my apartment, I see 2 ladies sitting on stools, tending to these little puppies, all squeezed in a tiny cage. A couple of lucky ones will be let out of the cage to run around, attracting attention of both tourists and locals passing by on their motorbikes.

I never had a chance to find out how much they cost but I have read on some other forums that puppies from non trustworthy sources should be avoided as it is unknown if they are infected with disease or contain fleas. But looking at how well groomed and utterly adorable they are, its hard to believe. Anyway, I know I will never have a chance to buy one (as much as I love to have a dog) as I simply will have no time to look after it.

Happy International Women's Day!

This is the 2nd International Women's Day I've spent in Vietnam and this country does take this day seriously. Employers present their female employees with shopping vouchers and flowers. Male bosses give out roses and cards to their female staff. In Singapore, this day is almost forgotten!

Living in Vietnam

Living in Vietnam is an expensive affair due to high rental & shortage of service apartments (especially in the prime districts). In fact, the cost of renting a bungalow with pool & garden in the non-prime districts will be almost similar to renting a 3-bedroom service apartment in district 1.

My current service apartment has so far been comfortable and its only 5 mins drive away from my office (rental has risen by about USD1K in the past year!)...gotta enjoy it while I can.

Looking up from the ground floor of the apartment

Apartment fully furnished

Master bedroom with attached bathroom

Guest room

Attached bathroom of the master bedroom

Bathroom next to the guest room

Love the open concept kitchen - makes the apartment look bigger

View from the living room

Roof top pool

Roof top area where outdoor activities like BBQ can be held

View from the roof top

Dining & living room of the previous service apartment I stayed in last year

Small kitchen

Master bedroom with attached bathroom

Attached bathroom of the master bedroom

Looking down at the residences from the apartment

View from the apartment - I could see the building where my office is located

Savour the food in Vietnam

Savouring food in Vietnam has been one of the best experiences so far. Not only the Vietnamese cuisine but the other cuisines here are great as well. A lot of foreigners settle here with some of them (especially the Koreans) opening small F&B joints, hence some foreign cuisines here are rather authentic. However, not all restaurants are a must-try but it pays to do extensive research and explore around from time to time in getting to know restaurants newly opened and lousy ones closed down.

Below is a list of those which I've been to in the past year and they are highly recommended.

The famous Pho2000 with great beef noodles and spring rolls
- even Bill Clinton thought so when he visited Vietnam years ago.
His photos can be found every where in this outlet.

Highlands Coffee - the 'Starbucks' of Vietnam.
This is Vietnamese coffee served in Vietnam/French style

Highlands Coffee has a huge chain of outlets all over HCMC and each outlet has great ambience

Quan An Ngon - a local cuisine joint in colonial settings, very popular with tourist and locals.

My all time favourite Vietnamese restaurant - An Vien.
It's actually a rich man's house converted into a restaurant, hidden in a side alley.
Never fail to ask those who are there for the first time to take
a tour of the restaurant - each floor & room has a different theme.

Deep fried soft shell crabs

One of my favourite dish - deep fried pumpkin flower stuffed with fish paste

The famous Vietnamese pancake - Ban Xeo

Very unique dish - Roast chicken served with deep fried rice cake

Fried vermicelli with crab meat

Stir fried vegetables with beef

Another of my favourite Vietnamese restaurant - Bun Ta
Another restaurant in colonial settings with very nice ambience

I enjoy looking at the water streaming down the windows

A traditional Vietnamese cuisine - Pork Chop Broken Rice

Beef noodles (dry style)

Vietnamese popular dessert - taste rather similar to desserts we have in Singapore

Read about Quan 94 Cua (where everything is crab) on another blog.
A local joint with fantastic crab soup, crab vermicelli and crab fried rice.

Huong Lai Restaurant - Vietnamese cuisine managed by a Japanese couple (great set lunches)

Lerk Thai - one of the best Thai restaurant around

Seafood Tom Yam Soup

Phad Thai

Beef Red Curry

Fried Fish

Corriander - another great Thai restaurant at cheaper price

The place to eat beef steak - Wild Horse Saloon

Private dining in the barrel

Fanny Ice Cream palour - very popular with locals and tourists

Temple Club next to Fanny Ice Cream - drinking lounge popular with foreigners

Mojo (next to the Vertu mobile phone shop) - a cafe / lounge that is popular with foreigners

Inside Mojo Cafe

X Cafe - another great ice cream joint (very popular with local youngsters)
with daily movie screenings and live band on Saturday nights

MGM - hangout music and drinking lounge popular with the locals

Upstairs of MGM

Windows Cafe - another good hangout location to do people watch

Upstairs of Windows Cafe